A SCOTTISH lord is set to make a staggering £17million by selling his stunning classic car collection.

Irvine Laidlaw, 70, is a major backer of the Tory party.

He is known for his love of fast cars and has built up what experts are calling “one of the finest collections of sports racing cars ever to be assembled”.

But the peer, worth a reported £770million, has now decided to sell the fleet at RM Auctions’ London sale in September and the seven sports cars could sell for as much as £17million.

The highlight is his 1955 ex-works Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar D-Type which is expected to sell for around £6million.

A 1958 Maserati 250S could fetch up to £3million, while a Maserati Tipo 61 “Birdcage” is expected to fetch £2.75million.

1955 Jaguar D-Type was raced by Ecurie Ecosse in 1950s (Photo: SWNS)

Laidlaw, a Banffshire mill owner’s son, made his fortune in publishing and sold the Institute for International Research in 2005 for £714million.

He was made a member of the House of Lords in 2004 on the condition that he would end his tax-exile status.

But he failed to keep his promise in a bid to avoid an annual tax bill of some £50million and was suspended in 2007.

In 2008, the Tories said they had stopped taking cash donations from Laidlaw until he “sorted out his tax issues”, but continued to accept £110,000 in cash and non-cash donations between 2008 and 2010.

After he was exposed for participating in orgies with prostitutes, to the embarrassment of the Tories, Laidlaw made a £27,000 donation to the party in 2008.